A long overdue 'Farewell to 2010' post

So the final book count of 2010 is . . . 62! Yep, I managed to read 62 new books this year, a final tally I'm quite pleased with, although I had hoped to read 10 a month. Life, and lack of library access, sometimes gets in the way of lofty ambitions. You'll find reviews for most of these books scattered throughout my blog posts of the last year, if you wish. I'll include a full list of titles below.

Also worthy of notice are the films I watched for the first time this year! I may be a bookwyrm at heart, but I also love film, and so although I don't review the movies I watch really on this blog I still think they deserve a shout-out in this post. I'm counting not just films that came out last year, but any movie I watched for the first time in 2010. I watched 24 films this year. And here are my favorite three live-action films, followed by my favorite three animated films that I discovered in 2010:

Live Action
1. Lawrence of Arabia- A glorious epic, thought-provoking, emotionally devastating, and brilliantly filmed.
2. Inception- One of my most anticipated movies of the year, and it surpassed my expectations. I love films that make you think and that make me emotional, and this was both.
3. Sunshine- It's flawed, sure. But it's also one of my favorite movies now. The climax of this film gives me chills, and there are a few scenes that are absolutely some of the most beautiful and heartwrenching moments I've seen in any film.
Runner Up: (Tie) Memento, (500) Days of Summer

Animated
1. Toy Story 3-I really can't place this film above the other two, but it did provoke more philosophizing from me than any other film. I think on the whole that it stabbed my heart more than won a place in it--affected me profoundly but I'm not keen to watch it again and again, that'd be too painful XD
2. How To Train Your Dragon-I expected this film to be lame, and by the time it got to the 'Hiccup drawing Toothless' scene I was practically in tears because I was so happy and completely taken aback. I really truly love this movie, and would say without hesitation that it's one of my favorite films, period. Gorgeously animated, completely endearing characters, a bittersweet ending that shocked me and was basically the perfect icing on the cake--This is a winner.
3. Tangled-This is the film that probably is closest to my heart, though. The animation is stunningly beautiful, the story basically exactly the sort of thing I love best--self sacrifice, humor, drama, a cute romance, great characters, Alan Menken music, fantastic songs, lotsa teary-eye moments, magic, 'twoo wuv'--I could go on and on, but I have already in the past, so basically I'll just make it clear that my three favorite animated films are basically tied for number one this year for different reasons. Yeah, I can do that!
Runner Up: The Secret of Kells-A less-well-known film, but the hand-drawn animation is stunning and the story is excellent. Add to that an enormous dose of Celtic goodness and you have a winner! I really recommend you track this one down and give it a watch.

And below is a full list of my 10 favorite reads of 2010. I'm not even going to try to crown one of them king, though. Note that some are Books of the Month, and some aren't. Since I'm just grouping my reading into one year instead of separate months for this final reckoning, there are a few times where I read multiple books in one month that I liked better than another book that got the BotM title due to lesser reading material during its month. I'd recommend reading all of the below:

The Mark of the Horse Lord
The Shield Ring
Neverwhere
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents
Fahrenheit 451
All Creatures Great and Small
Something Wicked This Way Comes
The Caves of Steel
Prospero's Children
The American Revolution

So there you have it, my favorite films and books of 2010! Now here's to a brilliant 2011, hm? I know I'm super late on posting my newest reviews--or, indeed, anything this year!--so I'll be fixing that over the course of the next few days. My reading is off to a good start though, thanks to some Christmas money and a few trips to the local library. Book reviews for January will be posted soon.

As to film, I'm mostly excited about The Hobbit which of course isn't even being released this year! But there's plenty of movies I really want to see this year, too, most of them frivolous sorts: Captain America, Thor, Cowboys and Aliens, Sherlock Holmes 2 . . . We'll see how many I actually go watch.

Righto, I hope your 2011 is treating you kindly so far, and I look forward to continuing my blogging once more!